Bihar BJP chief flays Modi for Tharoor jab

Never shy of obliging reporters with his remarks on the affairs of the party, Bihar BJP president CP Thakur has now voiced what he thinks of Narendra Modi’s alleged ‘Rs. 50-crore girlfriend’ remark.

Expressing his strong disapproval of the Gujarat chief minister’s aforesaid reference to union minister Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar, Thakur, on Wednesday, demanded a ban on use of derogatory language by politicians in the public.

“Such a ban is necessary to restore public confidence in democratic politics and political leaders as a class”, he told reporters who drew his attention to Modi’s recent jibe at Pushkar.

“I disapprove of what Modi said about Tharoor's wife,” Thakur said, adding that the Gujarat chief minister should have refrained from using such language.

In an apparent attack on Pushkar, Modi had said at an election rally in Shimla, “Wah kya girlfriend hai. Aapne kabhi dekha hai 50 crore ki girlfriend?” (What a girlfriend? Have you ever seen a 50-crore girlfriend)?

Tharoor had later taken on Modi by tweeting, “My wife is worth a lot more than your imaginary 50 crore. She is priceless”.

Asked about his opinion on RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy's reported remark suggesting that BJP president Nitin Gadkari should not do business so long as he was the party chief, Thakur said it was not improper, per se, for a businessman or an industrialist to be in politics.

“But, as a matter of principle, if there is any problem in pursuing both simultaneously, one should consider quitting one of the two streams”, he opined. The decision should be left to Gadkari, he added.

The BJP leader felt there was “ulterior motive” in the UPA government's proposal to dilute the office of the CAG by seeking to make it a multi-member body.

The BJP, he said, would oppose tooth and nail the Centre's bid to compromise the independence and constitutional autonomy of the national auditor.

Thakur, a Rajya Sabha member, said the BJP would continue its crusade against corruption and agitate in Parliament during the winter session beginning later this month.